Jaffna, Sri Lanka – Excavation work at the Chemmani mass grave has been temporarily suspended and is scheduled to resume on 4 August.
Today (24 July) marked the 42nd day of the third phase of excavations. During today’s work, investigators identified one additional human skeleton.
Authorities also completed the exhumation of 15 skeletons that had previously been identified.
With excavation activities having been conducted over 96 days across all phases of the investigation, a total of 479 human skeletons have now been identified and fully exhumed from the Chemmani site.
Meanwhile, Attorney V.S. Niranjan, speaking to reporters after today’s excavation, said hospital authorities had confirmed that individuals who die in hospitals are not buried at the Chemmani-Sithuppathi Hindu Cemetery. He added that the cemetery committee also has no records of such burials.
“This is a Hindu cemetery where lawful burials take place. For example, children may be buried after obtaining the required permission,” Attorney Niranjan said.
“However, the large number of human skeletons discovered at this site raises serious concerns that a crime may have been committed and that bodies were buried in haste. Any definitive conclusions should await the findings of the relevant forensic and investigative reports,” he added.
The excavation forms part of an ongoing judicially supervised investigation into the human remains discovered at the Chemmani site. Work is expected to resume on 4 August.
